Coke oven leveler bar sealing device



July 21', 1942. J'. MclNTosH GOKE OVEN LEVELER BAR SEALING DEVICE FiledMarsh 22, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 NN NN NQ -J. MGINTOSH July 21, 1942.

coxEoVEN LEVELERYBAR SEAL'ING DEVICE "Filed March 22., 19140Y 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 2l, 1942 UNITED s'mrEs PATENT OFFICE COKEovEN LEVELER BAB sEALlNG DEVICE l James McIntosh, Pittsburgh, P.IApplication March 2z, 1940, semi No. 325,424

6 Claims.

This invention relates to coke ovens, and particularly to improved meansfor sealing the openY ing through which the conventional leveler bar ofa pusher machine operates.

It is well known to those skilled in the art ovens by the pusher,according to a predetermined schedule.

' Conventional pusher machines are also equipped with mechanism forremoving the oven door and replacing it after each charge of 'cokehasbeen pushed. It is also conventional to provide pusher machines with aleveler bar comprising an elongated member which is 'reciprocatedthrough a smalldoor opening near the top of the oven so as to cause thepeaks of coal in the oven to be leveled olf to a substantially uniformdepth.

Heretofore, the operation of leveling was ac companied by a great loss of gas and other products of combustion which at the leveling stage ofoperation of the oven are particularly dense. Frequently these gaseousproducts become ignited, resulting in a burst of flame which is no-Lonly confusing to the pusher operator, especially at night, butotherwise detrimental to efcient operation. Moreover, heretofore airobjectionably entered the coking chamber through the unsealed levelerdoor opening, thus increasing the amount of suction required to removethe gas from the oven chamber and having other detrimental effects.

It is an object of thelpresent invention to provide sealing means which,during the operation of the leveler bar, will be effective in coactiontherewith to substantially prevent the escape of gaseous products fromthe coking chamber or the entry of air into the chamber. y

It is a further object of the invention to so coordinate'with theleveler bar of a coke oven pusher Vmachine the various instrumentalitiesherein shown, described and claimed, that they singly and jointlyperform the functions set forth.

For a complete understanding of the invention, reference should 'be madeto the accompanying drawings, the following detailed description, andthe appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse secltion through a portion ofthe pusher side of a coke oven showing as much of a conventional type ofpusher machine as is necessary for a complete understanding of thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the parts shown in Figure l, showing ingreater detail the sealing device of the present invention and relatedoperating mechanism.

Figure 3 is a detailed section o'n line III-III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section on line IVIV of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a transverse section on line V-V of'Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I0 represents aconventional type of coke oven, with coking chamber I2 adapted to beclosed -by an end door I4 held in the usual manner and adapted to beengaged and disengaged by a suitable door-operating mechanism lcarriedby the pusher machine I6. The pusher machine, which travels in front ofthe battery of ovens on suitable track rails I8, will carry the usualram or pusher, not shown, for discharging coke from the chamber I2.Inasmuch as the door-operating means and the pusher mechanism per seform no part of the present invention, they will not be further shown ordescribed.

In the normal operation of coke ovens, the coal Vto be coked isdischarged from an overhead traveling hopper car through suitable.openings in the roof. The conventional discharging prac- Atice resultsin the formation of peaks of coal 32. One portion of the cable 30extends forwardly and around a guide shcave 34, and is attached at 38 tothe leveler bar. Another portion 38 of the cable extends rearwardly ofthe drum and around a rear guide sheave 40, and is attached at 42 to theleveler bar. As thus arranged, it will be apparent that when the levelerbar motor 44 is energized, motion will be transmitted through reductiongearing 4B to the drum 32 to thus impart a stroke to the leveler bar ofdesired length to properly level o the peaks of coal in the oven.

with a leveler bar opening 50 which is formed in a frame 52. The opening50 is normally closed.,

by a leveler opening door (not shown). Heretofore, during the levelingoperation, at which time the door referred to must of necessity beopera, gas could escape from the oven, and during certain stages, aircould also be drawn into the oven. To prevent suchundesirableoccurrences, I provide a sealing device which in the,embodiment illustrated comprises a sleeve which is independentlymounted for sliding movement relative to the leveler bar and arranged toembrace the same and close the door opening. This sleeve, in combinationwith certain transverse partitions incorporated in the improved levelerbar structure, effectively prevents escape of gas from the oven duringthe operation of leveling the coal by reciprocating movement of theleveler bar. To this end I preferably construct the leveler bar of apair of parallel bar members 54-54 with transverse partition-likespacers between them. At its forward end the leveler bar is equippedwith a poker head 58 which in the embodiment illustrated is of pointedform.

The length of the sealing sleeve 48 is greater than the longitudinallymeasured distance between any two adjacent spacers 56. Thus at all timesat least one spacer will serve as a partition to prevent the escape ofgas through the sleeve. From the drawings it is clear that at pointsother than those embraced by the sleeve, the space between the bars54-54 is open at top and bottom.

The sealing sleeve is slidably supported with freedom of independentmovement relative to the leveler bar by means oflongitudinally-extending rods 60-60 whose forward ends are bolted tobrackets 62 secured to the opposite side walls of the sleeve 48. Therods 60 ride between upper and lower grooved rollers 64 and 66 which arecarried by suitable journal pins secured to channel members 68constituting part of the framework of the pusher machine.

Each rod 60 is connected by means of a link to a lever 12 carried byrock shaft 14 which also has secured thereto an arm 16 from the free endof which is suspended a weight 18. This weight, through the connectionsdescribed, serves to yieldably urge the sealing sleeve 48 toward theface of the leveler bar door-opening frame 52, and is effective to holdthe forward flanges 80 of the sealing Isleeve firmly in engagement withthe marginal portion of the frame surrounding the leveler bar dooropening.

A crosshead 82 is slidably mounted on supporting rods 84 secured to anysuitable portion ofthe pusher machine frame, and is connected by meansof a cable 86 with apin 88 carried by the arm 12. This crosshead carriesa detent 90 for coaction with a lug 92 projecting laterally from theleveler bar. As thus arranged, it will be apparent that when the motor44 is energized it will cause the leveler bar to advance through thedoor opening, and the weight 18, acting through arms 16 and 12, willcause the sealing sleeve 48 to move forward with the leveler bar fromthe full line position of Figure 1 to the dotted lineposition in whichthe forward flange 80 of the sealing sleeve contacts the front face ofthe leveler bar .door-opening frame. The Weight 18 thereafter yieldinglyholds the sealing sleeve in contact with the door frame, while theleveler bar continues its forward movement. TheV bar may be operated togive various intermittent forward and rearward strokes. During suchoperation, one or more of the spacers 56 carried by the leveler bar willfunction as transverse partitions or barriers to prevent escape of gasthrough the sleeve or the entry of air into the oven through the sleeve.

After the leveling operation is completed, the leveler bar will beretracted, to the position shown in Figure 1, for example, and duringsuch movement the lug 92 will engage the detent 90 and thus rock the arm12 to retract the sealing sleeve 46, whereupon the usual leveler bardoor will be closed.

Manually operable braking means of the type 4shown in Figure 2 arelpreferably provided to releasably hold the sealing sleeve in a closedposition. These means include brake drum 94 with which cooperates a bandbrake 96, one end of which is connected at 98 to a. lever |00 which ispivoted at |02 t'o a suitable xed bracket. Also carried by the pivot isa crank arm |04 which in turn is pivotally connected to one end of thebrake band. A spring |06 is secured at one end to the lever |00 and atits opposite end to a fixed anchorage |08. Thus the spring normallytends to rock the brake lever |00 to release position. For applying thebrake there is a pedal ||0 which rocks a bell crank ||2 carried by rockshaft ||4 in a direction to apply tension to the brake cable ||6 passingaround a guide sheave ||8 and attached at |20 to the brake lever |00. Asthus arranged, the operator can manually restrain the forward movementof the seal sleeve whenever deemed advisable, and also, by locking thebrake, the sleeve can be held in firm engagement against the levelerdoor fram'e during the leveling operation.

As illustrated in detail in Figure 3, the leveler bar sealing sleeve 48comprises two main elements, one consisting of a generally U-shapedportion, as viewed in cross section, including the opposite sidewalls|22 and |24, joined by top wall |26. Following the general U-shapedcontour of these parts is the forward marginal flange which overlaps andis arranged to be firmly seated against, the edge of the shell-likeflange |28 which surrounds the lever bar opening in the door frame ofthe oven, indicated generally at 52.

The top member |26 of the leveler seal sleeve slides freely `on the topedges of the members 54--54 of the leveler bar. The bottom of thesealing sleeve in the embodiment of the invention illustrated includes aplate |30 which is pressed upwardly against th`e under side of theleveler bar by springs |32 which surround guide studs |34 carried incross rods |36. The bottom plate |30 has secured thereto a cross rod |38which extends through Iguide slot-s |40 so as to restrain the bottomplate against endwise movenient and yet permit the same to be yildinglypressed bythe springs |32 against the under side of the leveler bar.

The intake of air during charging has a material effect on the suctioninduced by a steam jet in the standpipeduring charging. Any reduction inthis air intake should result in the use of less steam and. consequentlyless condensates in the gas to be later processed and disposed of.

Less air into the gas will result in decreased gas dilution andshould'also result in a reduction in the nitrous oxide compounds in thegas.

Less air into the gas during charging will result in more uniformpressure regulation with lower peaks and a lower average suction.

The use of this sealing device will eliminate the glare from the leveleroperators eyes during charging.

While I have described quite precisely the speciic embodiment of theinvention herein illustrated, it is to be understood that the drawingsand description are to be interpreted by Way of example rather thanlimitation, since various modiiications and substitutions of equivalentsmay be made by those skilled in the art without departure from theinvention as deiined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a coke oven having a leveler opening in one endthereof, of a pusher machine having a leveler bar, mechanism forreciprocating the same into and out of the oven through said leveleropening, a sealing member embracing the leveler bar and having a flangedportion for sealing engagement with the marginal face of the ovenadjacent said opening, means for supporting said'member with freedom forindependent slida-ble movement with relation to the leveler bar,yieldable means tending to press said member into sealing engagementagainst the face of the oven, .and means movable in unison with theleveler bar for overcoming the Vreffect of said yieldable means upon apredetermined outwar movement of said leveler bar. i

1 bar, a pivoted lever having a connection with said 2. The combinationwith a coke oven having a leveler opening on one end thereof, of apusher machine having a leveler bar, mechanism for reciprocating thesame into and out of the oven through said leveler opening, a sealingmember embracing the-leveler bar, means for supporting.

said member with freedom for independent slidable movement in relationto said leveler bar, yieldable means tending to press .said member intosealing engagement with the face of the oven adjacent said pusheropening, and means on the leveler bar for imparting withdrawing movementto said member upon rearward movement of the leveler bar. .Y

3. The combination with a coke oven having a leveler opening in one endthereof, of a pusher machine having a leveler bar, mechanism forreciprocating the same into and out of the oven through said leveler.opening, a sealing member embracing the levelerbar and having a angedportion for sealing engagement with the face of the-oven adjacent saidopening, means for supporting said memberwith freedom for independent`slidable movement with relation to the leveler sleeve, means tending tomove said lever in a direction to urge the sleeve toward the oven, amanually controlled brake for preventing movement of said lever, andmeans actuated upon an outward movement of the leveler bar for rockingsaid lever inl a direction opposite to that beforementioned. Y

4. The combination with a coke oven having a leveler opening in oneendthereof, of a pusher machine having a leveler bar, mechanism forreciprocating the same into and out of the oven through said leveleropening, a sealing member,

urging said rods toward the coke oven, a. slidably mounted member havinga connection with said lever lancl means on the leveler bar adapted toengage the last-named member so as to limit the forward movement of thesleeve relative to the leveler bar and to retract the sleeve after theleveler bar has moved outwardly a predetermined distance.

5. In horizontal coke ovens in which the charge in an oven is leveled bya leveler-bar operating through a leveler-door. means for closingsubstantially any gap between the leveler-bar and the leveler-dooropening during the operation of leveling a charge, said means comprisinga sealing plate fitting closely` around at least the top and sides ofthe leveler-bar, which sealing plate is large enough to cover .theleveler-door opening,

guide members attached to the sealing plate to permit the sealing platetorlde on the leveler-bar, and means to hold the sealing plate againstthe leveler-door opening during the operation of leveling a charge.

6. In horizontal coke ovens in which the charge is leveled by aleveler-bar operating through a leveler-door, means for closingsubstantially any gap between the leveler-barl and the leveler-dooropening during the operation of leveling a charge, said means comprisinga sealing plate of area greater than the leveler-door opening and ttingclosely around at least the top'and sides ot the leveler-bar whichsealing plate is held against and extends over ythe leveler-door openingduring the leveling operation.

JAMES MCINTOSH.

